InFocus Magazine

Leanne Boyd, owner and founder of Level 10 Eurospa in Courtenay, didn’t grow up with aspirations of being in the beauty industry. The Ontario born and Comox Valley raised businesswoman explains with a smile that she finished high school, set out to travel the world, and came home many months later flat broke. A chance boat ride on the MV Uchuck, from Gold River to a logging camp on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, found her working as a cook’s flunky at said logging camp.

One day, between peeling spuds and washing dishes, someone asked if she could cut their hair. Despite the fact that she had no prior experience, she picked up a pair of scissors and started snipping. The results were surprisingly great!  Others soon lined up to have their hair done, too.  When Boyd returned to the Comox Valley to get her own hair cut by a professional, she told him about her experience and the stylist invited her to join his team as an apprentice. She has never looked back!

“From there, I worked at several different salons for a few years until 1990, when one of my relatives, Danny Woodrow, contacted me with a business proposition,” Boyd says. “Danny owned a clothing store at the corner of Cliffe and Mansfield at the time and the salon beside him was closing. He invited me to take over the salon, loaned me an initial $5,000 to get started, and helped me write a business plan. That’s how Level 10 Hair Design & Esthetics began.”

Boyd adds that she can’t take credit for the name and also that it has nothing to do with what level of the building they are located on, or the fact that they are now located on 10th Street. Nor is it connected to Bo Derek’s infamous scene in the 1979 movie ‘10’, as some people have suggested.

“One of the girls I was working with at the time suggested that we base the name on the fact that hair color is measured in levels,” says Boyd. “Black hair is level one and blonde hair is level 10. I’m blonde, so that’s what we picked.”

Shortly after opening the salon, Boyd was recognized by her peers with the ‘Master of the Craft’ award. This set the tone for her future business practices and accomplishments. It was also at this time, with advanced training through US-based MATRIX Professional Hair Care & Salon Services, that she became an industry educator travelling throughout the province and teaching fellow hair designers.

Providing the optimal work environment and ongoing education has always been a priority for Boyd. The reward has been a long term, loyal team of professionals that are passionate about their chosen career and truly care for the clients.

Over the next few years, Boyd continually expanded her salon’s menu of services. In 1995, that growth necessitated a move to a new (and larger) location at Cliffe Avenue and 10th Street. With more space and expanded service offerings, she dropped the ‘Hair Design & Esthetics’ part of the name and added ‘Eurospa.’

“The services we offer at Level 10 Eurospa have grown in diversity, from hair design, facials and skin rejuvenation, manicures and pedicures, to relaxation massage, reflexology, steam, hydrotherapy and body wraps,” says Boyd. “We offer some exquisite signature treatments and packages.”

Staying on the leading edge in the industry has always been very important to Boyd. Level 10 was the very first full service day spa in the Comox Valley, amongst the first in Canada to introduce the Hot Rock Massage, the first on Vancouver Island to become certified in Thai Stem Massage, and the first spa in Western Canada to introduce Hydradermabrasion Skin Rejuvenation.

Wanting to offer their clients the utmost in quality skin care and cosmetics, they also created their very own lines of all natural, botanical skin and body care products called ‘L10 haute naturals’, as well as a mineral-based makeup line.

The stellar guest services and professionalism at Level 10 has not gone unnoticed. They have been repeatedly recognized for service excellence.  Awards include: the 2014 Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year, 2016 Vancouver Island Retail Business of the Year, the 2016 Comox Valley Sustainability Award, and the #1 Independent MATRIX salon in British Columbia three years in a row. In the BC Living People’s Choice Awards they were voted in the top three salons on Vancouver Island, and were winners of the Comox Valley’s ‘Favorite Place for a Makeover’ and finalists in the ‘Favorite Hair Salon’ categories.

A career highlight for Boyd and her team is that Level 10 is now a ‘Certified Green Circle Salon’. One hundred per cent of all hair clippings, foils, color tubes, papers, plastics, spa waste and excess chemicals are recycled and/or repurposed in an environmentally responsible way.

All hair clippings are made into ‘hair booms’, to soak up oil and chemical spills in waterways, while all the spa waste is cleanly incinerated to create green energy that goes directly to BC Hydro. Since 2014, Level 10 has diverted 1.5 tonnes of salon waste out of landfills and waterways!

“Our philosophy has always been ‘beauty and wellness are a result of taking care of one’s SELF’, says Boyd. “Now it also includes helping to take care of the planet.”

This year Level 10 celebrates 27 years of providing ‘A Beautiful Experience!’ Boyd and her team are proud of their accomplishments, the service they provide, and the many wonderful relationships developed and maintained over the years, including with InFocus Magazine.

“I feel extremely proud to have been part of the InFocus family,” says Boyd.

“They were the first publication of this kind in our community 24 years ago. It is not like I am an advertiser and they are the magazine—we have become very special friends. I wish them all the luck in the future and admit that I feel privileged to have been selected as one of the chosen few advertisers to be featured in the last issue of the magazine and to have been part of their journey.” ¦

For more information go to level10eurospa.com